PIA08510: Undercover
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows dunes covered with a seasonally-deposited layer of solid carbon dioxide (CO2) in the north polar region of Mars.
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) 
 Spacecraft:  Mars Global Surveyor Orbiter
 Instrument:  Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) 
 Product Size:  1024 x 2377 pixels (w x h) 
 Produced By:  Malin Space Science Systems 
 Producer ID:  MOC2-1482  
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA08510.tif (2.437 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA08510.jpg (292 kB)  

Click on the image above to download a moderately sized image in JPEG format (possibly reduced in size from original)

Original Caption Released with Image:

3 June 2006
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows dunes covered with a seasonally-deposited layer of solid carbon dioxide (CO2) in the north polar region of Mars. The dark spots indicate areas where the CO2 frost has begun to change, either by being sublimed away, or by becoming rougher or coarser-grained, such that it appears darker than surrounding frost. Over the course of the spring season, the frost will be completely removed and the dark sands that make up the dune field will be visible by summer.

Location near: 77.7°N, 41.7°W
Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi)
Illumination from: lower left
Season: Northern Spring

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

Image Addition Date:
2006-06-03